The "Colonial" Style Barn is an attractive little House ideal for holding two hens. Its unique design includes a separate nesting/egg laying compartment and a dry feed box to hold Layers Pellets. The pellets remain dry and have a gravity feed shoot so they fall down into a small cup for the hens to eat.
Inside the barn are two separate areas for the hens to roost. The roof of the nesting / feed box has a separate lid with a wooden hinge stick and a lock. The Barn is sturdy and includes four wooden handles to make it easy to move around on your grass.
Most of all the Barn is a very attractive piece of Garden Furniture and manufactured completely with the well being of the hens who will live in it.
The Barn is available in three different colours. You can choose either Lichen Green, Red Oxide or Teal Blue.
There is also the option to purchase a Chicken Run which comes in one colour (Cream) and this attaches easily on to the side of the Barn.
The happiest hens of all have access to fresh grass. Grass will result in really healthy and orange coloured eggs. If your grass is minimal then the grass section that the house sits on will get very bare. It is okay to place the house on sand or clay but not fair or healthy on the hens to place it on concrete.
Layers Pellets are really all hens will require. You can buy these from farm stores. However you can give them all your scraps (except meat). The Layers Pellets are full of protein which is necessary for good, strong & healthy eggs. Moving the house around the garden every few days will give them fresh grass. Plenty of fresh water is required. Hens love water and will not drink it if it gets dirty. Hens do not like strong wind and, obviously, aggressive animals. So do tell your neighbours who might visit with a dog not to encourage the dog to stick their nose at the chicken pen. Needless to say foxes are a no, no.
Generally cats are not a problem. Cats initially will sniff around and stick their nose in around the hens. The hens will be annoyed. Eventually as the hens mature one day they will stand their ground and peck back. Then the cats will ignore them. Small gentle domestic dogs will suffer the same faith. They are not natural hunters and will eventually treat the hens as pleasant company. You need to be careful about dogs who are natural hunters like hounds, jack russels, labradors as their first instinct is to attack. Of course if you intend to keep them locked in the chicken pen all the time then it is not an issue.
A mature hen will lay eggs after it reaches about 4 months old. The eggs will start very small and steadily get bigger. Each hen will lay approx 250 eggs a year. They slow up in the winter months but will start again in the Spring.
It is advised to use wood shavings and preferably the type which is marked washed wood shavings. Hens can attract mites which they generally self clean by bending around and eating with their beak. However if you use hay or straw in the nesting boxes the mites can live on under the bedding.
If your hens are allowed to raom, they will naturally come back to the hen house by dusk because they find it hard to see and feel unsafe. Make sure you have clicked the side door open with some wire so that it has not closed itself during the day. If the hens cannot get back in they get upset and will roost in the nearest bush.
Hens will give a gentle cackle and only occasionally when a hen gets broody will they continue to sit on the egg and get quite defensive and noisy when you approach. Remember as long as there is no Cockeral around then the egg is unfertilized and you should lift the hen off the egg and force it out of the nest box. It is Cockerals who are naturally aggressive and give that traditional early morning wake up call that some people love or hate!
Hens are naturally clean. They will soil where they roost at night. However the Happy Hen House is designed that most of the house sits on grass. As long as you move it around regularly the hens droppings will act as a very good fertilizer.
If you let them out hens will act as very good gardeners. They will rummage through your flowerbed and with their feet scatter clay all over the place. So if you are very precise about your garden you might want to pen them into their own area. They will soil on patios etc so just be careful.
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